The IRT Flushing Line is a rapid transit route of the New York City Subway system, named for its eastern terminal in Flushing, Queens. It is operated as part of the A Division. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), a private operator, had constructed the section of the line from Flushing, Queens, to Times Square, Manhattan between 1915 and 1928. A western extension was opened to Hudson Yards in western Manhattan in 2015, and the line now stretches from Flushing to Chelsea, Manhattan. It carries trains of the local service, as well as the express during rush hours in the peak direction. It is the only currently operational IRT line to serve Queens. The IRT Flushing Line has been isolated from the rest of the IRT System since June 13, 1942, when the IRT 2nd Avenue Line was closed and the track connection was destroyed. Today, for the purposes of car swapping if necessary, complicated non-revenue movements must be performed by utilizing the BMT track connection at Queensboro Plaza Station.
It is shown in the color on station signs, the official subway map, and internal route maps in R188 cars. Before the line was opened all the way to Flushing in 1928, it was known as the Corona Line or Woodside and Corona Line. Prior to the discontinuation of BMT services in 1949, the portion of the IRT Flushing Line between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza was known as the Queensboro Line. Since the mid-2010s, the line's signal system has been converted to an automated system.
The Flushing Line has various styles of architecture, which range from steel girder elevated structures to European-style concrete viaducts. The underground stations have some unique designs as well. The designs include Hunters Point Avenue, which is in an Italianate style; Grand Central–42nd Street, which is a single round tube similar to a London Underground station; and 34th Street–Hudson Yards, which, with its deep vault and spacious interior, resembles a Washington Metro station.
Extent and service
Route
Services that use the Flushing Line are colored . The following services use part or all of the IRT Flushing Line: ServiceTime periodRush hours,peak directionOther times LocalFull line ExpressFull lineNo service The line has two distinct sections, split by the Queensboro Plaza station. It begins as a three-track subway, with the center track used for express service, at Flushing–Main Street. It quickly leaves the ground onto a steel elevated structure above Roosevelt Avenue, passing Citi Field and the United States Tennis Association's National Tennis Center. A flying junction between Mets–Willets Point and 111th Street provides access to the Corona Yard from the local tracks. At 48th Street in Sunnyside, the line switches to Queens Boulevard and an ornate concrete viaduct begins. The express track ends between 33rd Street–Rawson Street and Queensboro Plaza.
At Queensboro Plaza, the eastbound track (railroad north) is above the westbound track, with both tracks on the south side of the island platforms. On the north side of these platforms is the BMT Astoria Line. East of this point, both the Flushing Line and the Astoria Line were formerly operated by the IRT and the BMT. Connections still exist between the eastbound tracks just east of the platforms, but cannot be used for revenue service as BMT trains are wider than IRT trains. This is the only track connection between the Flushing Line and the rest of the subway system.
West of Queensboro Plaza, the line sharply turns south onto an elevated structure over 23rd Street. It heads into the west end of Amtrak's Sunnyside Yard, and passes through two underground stations before entering Manhattan via the Steinway Tunnel under the East River. In Manhattan, the line runs under 42nd Street, with part directly underneath the 42nd Street Shuttle (), before angling towards 41st Street. The Times Square–42nd Street station, with no track connections to other lines, is directly under 41st Street.
West of Times Square, the tracks curve sharply downward before turning under 11th Avenue. The tracks end at 24th Street, even though the last station is at 34th Street. This segment was built as part of the extension of the Flushing Line west to Manhattan's Far West Side (see ). A decommissioned lower level at the IND Eighth Avenue Line's 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station formerly blocked the way. Although London ultimately received the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, New York City pursued the extension anyway, albeit as a means to enable the redevelopment of the far West Side under the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project.
Distinctions The Flushing Line is one of only two New York City non-shuttle subway lines that hosts only a single service and does not share operating trackage with any other line or service; the other is the BMT Canarsie Line, carrying the train. Because of this, the MTA is automating the line with new trains using communication-based train control (CBTC), similar to the Canarsie Line (see ).
The IRT Flushing Line's 7 service has the distinction of running trains with the largest number of cars in the New York City Subway. 7 trains are eleven cars long; most other New York City Subway services run ten or eight-car trains. The trains are not the longest by total length, however. An IND/BMT train of ten -long cars or eight -long cars, which is long, is still longer than an IRT train of eleven -long cars, which is long.
History
Origins The earliest origins of the Flushing Line emerged on February 22, 1885, with the founding of the East River Tunnel Railroad. The railroad would construct the Steinway Tunnel under the East River, connecting the Long Island Rail Road in Queens with the New York Central Railroad in Manhattan. However, the East River Tunnel Railroad Company went out of business. On July 22, 1887, Walter S. Gurnee and Malcolm W. Niven founded the New York and Long Island Railroad Company (NY&LIRR). They soon began planning for the tunnel.
To run from West 42nd Street and Tenth Avenue to Van Alst Avenue after crossing under the East River, the builders planned for the remainder of the line to be constructed on private lands, and numerous alterations were made to the proposal. In 1890, William Steinway advised the company to utilize electricity to power the tunnels, believing that the construction of the tunnel would increase the value of his properties in the vicinity.
On June 3, 1892, construction of the tunnel commenced near the intersection of 50th Avenue and Vernon and Jackson Avenues. However, several failures and hindrances, which included an underground spring preventing the extraction of rubble, resulted in the termination of the project on February 2, 1893. Several calls for the resumption of the project between 1893 and 1896, in addition to a proposed extension to New Jersey, were futile. Work resumed in 1905, and test runs with streetcars began in 1907. Though the streetcar tests were successful, the tunnel remained closed to passengers. The tunnel opened for subway use on June 22, 1915, with service running between Grand Central and Vernon–Jackson Avenues.
The Flushing Line was extended one stop from Vernon–Jackson Avenues to Hunters Point Avenue on February 15, 1916. On November 5, 1916, the Flushing Line was extended two more stops to the east to the Queensboro Plaza station. At this point, the Flushing Line between Grand Central and Queensboro Plaza was called the Queensboro Line.
Construction under the Dual Contracts The Dual Contracts were formalized in March 1913, specifying new lines or expansions to be built by the IRT and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT). The Dual Contracts involved opening the Steinway Tunnel as part of the new Flushing subway line. The route, traveling under 41st and 42nd Streets in Manhattan, was to go from Times Square through the tunnel over to Long Island City and from there continue toward Flushing.
At Queensboro Plaza, the line met the BMT's 60th Street Tunnel, as well as a spur from the elevated IRT Second Avenue Line on the Queensboro Bridge. From this point east, the Flushing and Astoria Lines were built by the City of New York as part of the Dual Contracts. They were officially IRT lines on which the BMT held irrevocable and equal trackage rights. Because BMT trains were wider, and the platforms had been built for the IRT, normal BMT trains ran only to Queensboro Plaza, with a transfer to shuttles, using elevated cars, that alternated between the Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard and Flushing–Main Street terminals. IRT trains simply continued from the Queensboro Line and Queensboro Bridge onto the lines to Astoria and Flushing. The line to Flushing was originally called the Corona Line or Woodside and Corona Line before it was completed to Flushing. The segment of the viaduct above Queens Boulevard, from 33rd to 48th streets, was made of concrete rather than steel because it was intended to serve as a gateway to Queens.
The line was opened from Queensboro Plaza to Alburtis Avenue on April 21, 1917. The Flushing Line was initially derided by opponents, as it passed through agricultural areas rather than connecting populated places, as previous lines had. Rapid development quickly followed once the Flushing Line was operational, with six-story apartment buildings being erected directly on the former fields, and several major firms building housing for their workers along the route. By June 1917 ridership on the line was exceeding expectations, with 363,726 passengers using the Corona Line that month, 126,100 using the Queensboro Plaza station, and 363,508 using the Queensboro Subway.
BMT shuttles began to use the Flushing and Astoria Lines on April 8, 1923. Service to 111th Street was inaugurated on October 13, 1925, with shuttle service running between 111th Street and the previous terminal at Alburtis Avenue (now 103rd Street–Corona Plaza) on the Manhattan-bound track. The line to Main Street had been practically completed at this point, but had to be rebuilt in part due to the sinking of the foundations of the structure in the vicinity of Flushing Creek. Once the structure was deemed to be safe for operation, the line was extended to Willets Point Boulevard on May 7, 1927. This extension was served by shuttle trains until through service was inaugurated on May 14. On that date, the opening of the station was formally celebrated; it coincided with the opening of the Roosevelt Avenue Bridge for cars and buses. Wooden elevated rolling stock had to be used by the BMT, as the Flushing Line was built to IRT clearances, and standard steel BMT subway rolling stock were not compatible.
Western expansion In July 1920, the New York State Public Service Commission announced it would extend the Flushing Line two stops west to Times Square, with an intermediate station under Bryant Park. The western end of the Bryant Park station would be east of Sixth Avenue, while the eastern end would be about west of Fifth Avenue. The 42nd Street Association, a local civic group, regarded the station as very important. In May 1921, it was expected that contracts for the extension would be advertised shortly.
On November 9, 1921, the New York State Transit Commission opened up the contract for the extension for bidding. The extension would take a slightly different route than the one specified in the Dual Contracts. The original proposal had the line constructed under 42nd Street to a point just to the east of Broadway, which would have forced riders transferring to the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to walk a long distance.